This invention relates to apparatus for transferring wheel chair invalids onto and out of a bed or chair, and more particularly to a device that can be broken down and transported in an automobile interior or trunk, or stored in a small space.
Paraplegics, quadriplegics, amputees, and others without the use of arms and legs have great difficulty in transferring from wheel chain to bed or chair and back. There has long been a need for a portable apparatus to enable an invalid to be quickly and easily moved from wheel chair to any bed or chair and back that can be transported in a car interior or trunk, or stored in a small space, thus making travel, camping and other activities possible for the severely handicapped. There are hydraulic patient lifts available, some described as being portable and capable of being folded for transport but which weight forty-six pounds. Therefore the heavy weight and awkwardness renders the present portable devices very difficult to use. Both portable and standard type hydraulic patient lifts and other similar hoists are subject to disadvantages, such as: (1) they are incapable of being broken down into small, lightweight sections or components that can be transported easily in a car trunk or interior and therefore, for all practicable use, provide for transferring an invalid from wheel chair to bed or chair and back at only one location, which is very inconvenient; (2) they must have their base placed around or under a chair or under a bed to function and therefore wil not do so with beds and wide chairs having a solid structure with no open space underneath; (3) they often can not be used at outdoor and other locations where no hard surface exists; (4) they are expensive and have to be repaired and serviced generally only at manufacturer authorized dealer shops; (5) they are heavy and can not be handled easily by women or men of small stature in the process of breaking down, transporting and storing; (6) they are extremely difficult to maneuver on carpeting because of their necessarily small casters.